The Bridge Crew
by TheWordThief
Summary: 'They're all there, together, gathered round the hospital bed with its crisp white sheets in the cramped private room, a scene any journalist would kill for.' The senior bridge crew of the Enterprise are together in the same room for the first time since the events of STID, when their captain paid the ultimate price for his crew.


**Oh look, more Star Trek! The amount I've become obsessed with it in a few short months is ridiculous. Seriously. It's probably really damaging to my health and it's all Becky's fault.**

**Anyway, here is a one-shot I was working on in France at the beach. Because, you know, normal people swim and the beach. And play in the sand. Or sun-bathe. I wrote fanfiction. Hope you enjoy it, please review if you have the time!**

**Disclaimer: So apparently Star Trek isn't mine. Who knew? It belongs to Paramount and JJ Abrams. **

_The Bridge Crew_

They're all there, together, gathered round the hospital bed with its crisp white sheets in the cramped private room, a scene any journalist would kill for. The senior bridge crew of the Starfleet flagship Enterprise are together in the same room for the first time since a starship crashed into the bay and decimated the San Francisco skyline, a terrorist ran wildly through the city and a dying pair of hands weakly tried to form a Vulcan salute against a pane of glass.

A week ago Jim Kirk died so that they would live. Now, a week after they brought him to med-bay in a body-bag, his friends (because they like to think that after everything they've been through together, Jim counts them as friends) are all arranged round his bed-side. The captain of the flagship, once so strong, lies in a coma from which he might not wake, dwarfed by the machines keeping him a live, body irreparably (if not for the blood of the enemy, forcibly taken) weakened by radiation. For a week now, there had been no sign, no indication he would be able to survive without the constant aid of modern technology. For a week, his crew had taken it in turn to keep vigil by his bed-side. For a week, various admirals had come to pay the 'hero of the Federation' a visit (for once again, with only the barest details of what had happened, the newsreels were queuing up to sing the praises of Captain James T Kirk and his brave, young crew), only to pale and turn hurriedly away. For a week, the bridge crew had managed to miss each other until now, a week after the Enterprise almost came burning and crashing down to Earth, they hold a reunion of sorts as McCoy gives them the latest news. It's not bad and it's not fantastic but anything, any tiny sign of progress is good news right now and there's a sigh of relief as McCoy tells them the signs of radiation exposure have ever-so-slightly begun to fade.

Spock stands, straight-backed and tall, directly across from the Doctor, both of them opposite sides of Jim's head. Next to Spock is Uhura, one hand lightly resting on Spock's arm, not a hair out of place, the picture of Starfleet professionalism, though the shadows under her eyes and the glisten of tears tell a different story. Sulu and Chekov stand at the end of the bed, Sulu's eyebrows drawn together in a worried frown and the young Russian next to him pale and on the verge of tears. The last member of the senior crew (apart from Carol Marcus, currently assisting the Starfleet inquiry into her father's actions), Scotty, stands quietly in a corner, haggard and haunted, a bruise still visible on his jaw from where Jim knocked him out. Only McCoy is really busy, constantly adjusting the machines and checking Jim's vitals, anything to avoid staring down at his best friend's unmoving form because the last time he did that, Jim was dead.

No-one speaks, they're all too focused on the fragile figure, the slight artificial rise and fall of his chest, the data displayed at the end of his bed.

It's Chekov who finally breaks the silience.

"Ze Keptin was wery brave."

"Yeah and stupid." McCoy mutters under his breath.

They manage a small smile at this.

"That's Jim." Uhura remarks fondly.

"On the contrary. The Captain's intelligence far surpasses that of most humans." Spock sounds slightly confused, in that odd Vulcan way of his.

"He's still an idiot though." Uhura argues with a slight smile playing about her lips.

None of them are quite sure when this turned into 'Bitch about Jim Kirk' session but soon enough, they're all swapping stories, laughing about some of the Captain's more unusual antics, reminiscing together and it's like a spell has been broken. Something that was lost during those last, horror-filled hours, when everything was lost, has been replaced and suddenly, it really does feel like a crew reunion. Every so often, one of them turns towards Jim, broken and battered but not beaten, weak and sick but _alive_ and somehow, they know it's going to be ok. The captain will live, the Enterprise will be fixed and soon enough, they'll be jetting off to the stars once more, a brilliant, adventurous crew under a captain that shines so brightly, even death couldn't hold him.

Jim Kirk is the reason they're here and Jim Kirk is the reason they'll keep fighting, even when everything tells them that it's the end. Because if there's one thing they've learned from their captain, it's that there's no such thing as a no-win scenario.

**Any good? Let me know what you thought and thanks for reading!**

**-TheWordThief**


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